Pastime Projects – makers of radio amateur kits – in Central Ohio would like to recommend to our friends and customers that you visit the Findlay Ohio 2018 Hamfest. It will be held September 9, 2018 at the Hancock County Fairgrounds in Findlay Ohio.

For more information visit hamfest@findlayradioclub.org . This is 76th year for this gathering. They are expecting 1,500 paid attendees at this years hamfest. Lets make it 1,501 shall we? We will look for you there “Lord Willing And the Creek Don’t rise”

The 12k5 “Lookma” transmitter kit we have manufactured and sold since 2006 has a little
secret. About ten years ago we changed the design of the little coil included with this
kit. When we changed the design, we also started to assemble the coil and include the
assembled version in the kit. The coil winding is probably the most difficult part of
assembly. Even though the instructions for winding are included, we decided to do this
part of the kit build ourselves. (Our ten year old secret)!
Have fun! 73 Glenn for Pastime Projects.

The Pastime Projects (www.pastimeprojects.com) web site contains warnings about copyright
terms and conditions. This may frighten away those experimenters who are inspired by the
vintage makeup of our kits. That is the last thing we want to do! Please email us at
pastimeprojects(at)yahoo(dot)com for permission to copy or request copies of our materials.
We are “Makers” “do it yourselfers” handy men, or what ever you call yourself!
Let us hear from you! How can we help you?

I recently saw where a new ham operator was questioning how one tunes a HF transmitter that does not have a built in meter in the output circuit. He was referring to the Pastime Projects 6V6 transmitter kits but the question would apply to similar low to medium power transmitters.

One easy and cheap way is to use a CB Field strength /SWR/power meter. If you check the specifications, you will find these meters will work just fine on all HF frequencies from 160 to 10 meters and beyond. Many are listed at safe power ratings of 10 to 1000 watts of output power. And, they sell for $30.00 or less (much less) on eBay! Ideal for experimenting and measuring our HF transmitter kits performance with almost lab rating results for low surplus prices.

Simplest way to use the meter is as a field strength meter. The meter will have a hole for a short wire antenna to attach. (Make sure the wire antenna you use has some kind of top on it to prevent injury to an eye!) With the meter near your transmitter – but not electrically attached – try transmitting into an antenna and tune your FSM for maximum strength. The meter follows the strength of the transmitter, so tuning for maximum should get you great results.

Good luck! Always get help from your local club when you can. A good experienced radio amateur is always a friend to have. 73 Glenn .. for Pastime Projects.

In the October 2017 QST Magazine Tom Gallagher NY2RF , ARRL Chief Executive Officer, wrote a commentary about new hams (radio amateurs). He noted that of the thousands of newly licensed hams each year, nearly half never get on the air.

Please take time to open your October 2017 QST to page 9 and read Tom’s editorial “Second Century – A learning Moment”. This is a call to arms for us more experienced hams to remember our elmers (Mentors) who showed us the way. We need to take the time and effort to get back to basics and help the new hams get on the air. ARRL is doing its share but this needs some one-on-one training as well.

Pastime Projects (www.pastimeprojects.com) has manufactured radio amateur projects from the 1940 and later eras. (Grandpa’s radios). We are proposing to write do-it-yourself articles for new hams. Our format tends to be very fundamental, without too much engineering data. The hows, not the whys. What media would best suit our articles? Would a PDF file emailed to you be worthwhile? Read through our past POSTS and see if this format would work for you.

Pastime Projects has a new regenerative receiver kit. Our biggest concern is its a little complicated. We are considering offering it as a multi step mailing in increments so that the builder tackles one assembly step at a time. Good idea? Let me know. W8JZI Glenn Brown, owner, Pastime Projects. pastimeprojects (at) yahoo (dot) com.

From time to time http://www.pastimeprojects.com adds items to the “special sales” page.
These items may be marked “delivered in Ohio” or “Pick up only”. Pick up will save
a lot of postage cost. More importantly, it gives the buyer a chance to see the
item and see it work. Please let us know if you are interested.

Pastime projects http://www.pastimeprojects.com has started production of the ‘Slat Board’ Style Power Supply that closely resembles the original style of the companion power supply shown in the ARRL Handbooks for use with the 6V6
‘Slat Board’ novice transmitter for 80 and 40 meter CW. This model uses a vacuum tube as a rectifier instead of the solid state diodes used in the other power supply available. Either model has been tested and performs very well.
Full specifications will be available on the web page. Or contact pastimeprojects(at)yahoo(dot)com for more info.

Thanks to the suggestion of one of our overseas amateur radio builders, this kit has been packaged as a 40 meter Special Edition. The trend of 40 meter operation using low power cw is growing in popularity. This kit includes the three coils, plate, antenna link, and cathode coil, pre wound and packaged with the kit.
In exchange for the labor and cost to include these prefinished coils, the common 8 penny nails used for coil winding have been excluded from the kit. Also, the extra wire for winding the 80 meter coils is not included.
The coil winding form layout and winding information are, of course, still part of the provided manual. Our design includes Amish prepared oak strips and end pieces, brass screws, “sucker sticks”, and other hardware just like the original. Many of the components are new (and we think more reliable than originals) but the retro look remains.
This kit will operate on 40 meter or 80 meter CW ham radio frequencies with power out in the 2 to 5 watt (or more) range. It is crystal controlled. Change from one band to the other requires different coils be soldered in. The 40 meter version seems most popular among our builders.. The manual that comes with this kit contains step by step instructions for assembly, wiring, and soldering. The vacuum tube is included. The builder will need a crystal and power supply.
To put this kit on the air a license, antenna, and power supply will be required. The builder should be familiar with working around high voltage before applying power to this kit.

WE ARE SEEING DAILY ACTIVITY ON OUR WEB SITE OF POTENTIAL BUYERS WHO ARE LOCATED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES. WHILE WE DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION, THE COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN ARE LISTED. I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO INQUIRE ABOUT YOUR INTERESTS IN OUR PRODUCTS. WE WILL HELP YOU THROUGH THE PURCHASING PROCEDURES.

IF PURCHASING PASTIME PROJECTS ITEMS FROM YOUR ADDRESS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES SIMPLY EMAIL US AT pastimeprojects(at)yahoo(dot)com AND LET US GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE STEPS. ONE EASY WAY IS TO SIMPLY ENTER YOUR ORDER THROUGH THE PAYPAL BUTTONS. WHEN WE RECEIVE YOUR PAYMENT WE WILL CALCULATE THE ADDED POSTAGE AND SEND YOU AN INVOICE FOR THE ADDITIONAL PAYMENT.

The new “Pastime Projects” Alham VT-1 Power Supply Kit is being prepared for shipment.
It includes a tube type rectifier as was used back in the late 1940’s and 1950’s. It
has an output of about 200 DC Volts – same as the current power supply which uses modern
solid state diodes for the rectifiers.
It’s design is simplified and uses a capacitor input style filtering circuit. The
circuit is similar in design to similar power supplies of the 1940-1950 era. There is
no filter choke in the circuit. In tests, we see no degradation in performance, but see
an advantage is less weight to ship, and less cost.
The kit includes a Cinch-Jones style plug and matching socket to connect the power
supply to your transmitter. These add a sizeable cost to the kit, but it’s well worth the
convenience.
The circuit uses a fuse in the line cord circuit, and red and green neon lights to
indicate when power and high voltage are on. The high voltage lamp dims slowly as the
high voltage drains through the bleeder resistor built into the circuit.
While no decision has been made, Pastime Projects may discontinue the original
solid state supply as acceptance of the new power supply builds.
We will accept payment of the VT-1 power supply kits early, or, just email us for
notification of the release. Watch http://www.pastimeprojects.com for more news. 73 Glenn for
Pastime Projects.